The Left Foot
Well, there's just no predicting how these fast breaking functions will be. I was wrong about the shimmering women all frocked up in brocade. Several of them wore denim jeans, with or without veil. The Right Foot was the most dressed up man in the room. Is this a first? I think so. The food was very interesting. First, the sweets to provide the sugar hit the fasters were craving. Then they disappeared back to the prayer room while the two of us chewed stolidly on. Then they reappeared for the more nutritious fare, then disappeared again. This happened several times until we suddenly realised that they were not coming back this time and we were alone in the Medeka Palace banquet room except for the two waiters standing near the door, stareing balefully at us. Oops, time to go!
For an antisocial bloke like the Right Foot these events are mercifully short and no one expects him to dance. But I can't help wondering what our very sociable friends, Lord and Lady J would think of a meal that went for scarcely an hour when their own dinner parties average around six. They sent me a parcel for my birthday that I didn't receive until today. It was three tubes of vegemite - manna from Heaven. Thank-you dear and thoughtful friends.
Over this meal, where all those present were librarians, I managed to work the conversation around to my favourite subject these days - Collection Codes. Coming from a library system where collection codes breed like rabbits but evolve in to different animals at each campus, it is astonishing to discover that every library in the state of Sarawak is getting along quite nicely without using any collection codes whatsoever. The different coloured stickers on the spines of the books may be very informative when you are standing in front of them but, when searching the OPAC, there is no way of telling whether an item is in the reference collection, periodicals, fiction, audiovisual, counter reserve or what. One senior librarian was horrified by the idea of putting letters before a call number. 'Oh no!', she said, 'We stick to the standard, the Library of Congress standard.' So that's how it has come about - because the cataloguing in publication doesn't include collection codes, libraries don't use them. Imagine.
Saturday, November 23, 2002
Thursday, November 21, 2002
The Left Foot
How do you plan for a long weekend that may or may not happen? When it all depends on the visibility or otherwise of the moon? How will I know whether to go to work or not? The lunch time group in the caf tells me I will see a man in a big chair on TV talking in Bahasa. But I already see that - I thought it was the news. If the moon can be spied by a certain person from a certain spot at a certain time on Thursday 5th December it will be a public holiday on Friday 6th. If no moon then Hari Raya will be on Saturday - no fun at all.
I brought our corporate templates with me, guessing rightly that there would be no database guides or handouts on library services. But before I could use them I had to ask our IT man, the redoubtable TT to edit them for me. Firstly, this campus is still clinging to the yellow version of the logo although the green and blue have been surrendered by their divisional users months ago. But also Sarawak campus does not use the University badge which includes a boar, a sensitive animal in this country. So I had to email TT and ask, "Could you please de-pig these templates for me?"
On my first morning early last month, one of my staff members, the elegant R arrived at my apartment to escort me to work. Unfortunately for me, she took off like a rocket and I had great trouble keeping up. She was one of those compulsive lane-changers and we ducked and weaved and dodged our way to work like OJ Simpson on that famous chase. This turned out to be the only thing that R does without her characteristic grace and poise. She moves in a languid, almost regal manner, always resplendent in brilliant Muslim dress. Her clothes are magnificent: shiny gold with black embroidery, gorgeous lime or electric blue, and a matching veil clipped on with a sparkling jewel. In six weeks she hasn't worn the same outfit twice.
On that first morning R took me to the pantry for morning tea. I watched in fascination as she mixed herself a drink composed of two spoonfuls of coffee, two of Milo and two of powdered milk topped up with boiling water. "No wonder she drives like that!", I thought. These days, half way through the fasting month, R lowers her eyes and keeps on working at morning tea time. How she must miss that caffeine fix. I wonder how she bears it.
On Saturday night we are invited to another fast breaking meal at which R will also be present. The room will be full of magnificent women gleaming and shimmering, every colour of the rainbow represented. There is no hope of competing with them - no matter what I wear I will feel under-dressed. But the menu looks a lot more promising than the charity do we went to last week. It is written in Bahasa but we can distinguish a word here and there and like all good banquets it ends with 'your choice of kopi or teh'. You can work THAT out can't you?
How do you plan for a long weekend that may or may not happen? When it all depends on the visibility or otherwise of the moon? How will I know whether to go to work or not? The lunch time group in the caf tells me I will see a man in a big chair on TV talking in Bahasa. But I already see that - I thought it was the news. If the moon can be spied by a certain person from a certain spot at a certain time on Thursday 5th December it will be a public holiday on Friday 6th. If no moon then Hari Raya will be on Saturday - no fun at all.
I brought our corporate templates with me, guessing rightly that there would be no database guides or handouts on library services. But before I could use them I had to ask our IT man, the redoubtable TT to edit them for me. Firstly, this campus is still clinging to the yellow version of the logo although the green and blue have been surrendered by their divisional users months ago. But also Sarawak campus does not use the University badge which includes a boar, a sensitive animal in this country. So I had to email TT and ask, "Could you please de-pig these templates for me?"
On my first morning early last month, one of my staff members, the elegant R arrived at my apartment to escort me to work. Unfortunately for me, she took off like a rocket and I had great trouble keeping up. She was one of those compulsive lane-changers and we ducked and weaved and dodged our way to work like OJ Simpson on that famous chase. This turned out to be the only thing that R does without her characteristic grace and poise. She moves in a languid, almost regal manner, always resplendent in brilliant Muslim dress. Her clothes are magnificent: shiny gold with black embroidery, gorgeous lime or electric blue, and a matching veil clipped on with a sparkling jewel. In six weeks she hasn't worn the same outfit twice.
On that first morning R took me to the pantry for morning tea. I watched in fascination as she mixed herself a drink composed of two spoonfuls of coffee, two of Milo and two of powdered milk topped up with boiling water. "No wonder she drives like that!", I thought. These days, half way through the fasting month, R lowers her eyes and keeps on working at morning tea time. How she must miss that caffeine fix. I wonder how she bears it.
On Saturday night we are invited to another fast breaking meal at which R will also be present. The room will be full of magnificent women gleaming and shimmering, every colour of the rainbow represented. There is no hope of competing with them - no matter what I wear I will feel under-dressed. But the menu looks a lot more promising than the charity do we went to last week. It is written in Bahasa but we can distinguish a word here and there and like all good banquets it ends with 'your choice of kopi or teh'. You can work THAT out can't you?
Wednesday, November 20, 2002
The Right Foot:
Pustaka Negeri Sarawak is the brand-new (well, two-years old) State Library for the state of Sarawak. It is built about 9 km out from the centre of Kuching, which some people think was a mistake but is most likely good forward planning, because the population centre will inevitably drift north of the CBD which in all truth is too crowded to allow for this sort of development. Pustaka is set in a somewhat elevated park which is actually an enchanting arboretum of native trees, palms and shrubs. In the centre is a huge lake with fountains and small islands dotted about which have attracted lots of dazzling white egrets. The effect, especially when it is misty as it often is at this time of the year, is rather like a Chinese painting. I think that it cant be too far off the beaten track, because I observe lots of people coming to stroll about in the park and children playing by the lake or flying kites.
Although it is a large building, Pustaka lives in harmony with its surroundings. The architects have produced a long, white two-storey building surmounted by a duck egg blue dome and roof and surrounded it with an elegant arched colonade and a regal paved forecourt leading up to the entrance. The airy entrance hall features an elegant double staircase in which stainless steel balustrades and glass steps have been fashioned to resemble a hornbill (Sarawak's most notable bird) in flight. The total effect is as graceful and effortless as a flying bird.The main reading room is lit by the dome, whose colourful tiled interior nods gracefully to the fabulous Islamic domes of antiquity. The whole atmosphere of the library is peaceful, light and serene and it is a joy to work looking out over the park and the lake and watch the thunder clouds sweep in from the South China Sea or see the sunlight bursting out over the jagged hills south of Kuching.
Pustaka Negeri Sarawak is the brand-new (well, two-years old) State Library for the state of Sarawak. It is built about 9 km out from the centre of Kuching, which some people think was a mistake but is most likely good forward planning, because the population centre will inevitably drift north of the CBD which in all truth is too crowded to allow for this sort of development. Pustaka is set in a somewhat elevated park which is actually an enchanting arboretum of native trees, palms and shrubs. In the centre is a huge lake with fountains and small islands dotted about which have attracted lots of dazzling white egrets. The effect, especially when it is misty as it often is at this time of the year, is rather like a Chinese painting. I think that it cant be too far off the beaten track, because I observe lots of people coming to stroll about in the park and children playing by the lake or flying kites.
Although it is a large building, Pustaka lives in harmony with its surroundings. The architects have produced a long, white two-storey building surmounted by a duck egg blue dome and roof and surrounded it with an elegant arched colonade and a regal paved forecourt leading up to the entrance. The airy entrance hall features an elegant double staircase in which stainless steel balustrades and glass steps have been fashioned to resemble a hornbill (Sarawak's most notable bird) in flight. The total effect is as graceful and effortless as a flying bird.The main reading room is lit by the dome, whose colourful tiled interior nods gracefully to the fabulous Islamic domes of antiquity. The whole atmosphere of the library is peaceful, light and serene and it is a joy to work looking out over the park and the lake and watch the thunder clouds sweep in from the South China Sea or see the sunlight bursting out over the jagged hills south of Kuching.
Monday, November 18, 2002
Sunday, November 17, 2002
The Left Foot
We're having a quiet weekend while I recover from a cold - a sort of mid-term break. We went shopping for gifts for Grumpy Girl's impending birthday. There's no Alice Euphemia, Eg et al or Fat 52 around here so it was off to Jalan Bazaar for the local version of cutting edge quirkiness. Will she be able to work out what these presents are? Maybe not. Will she be able to work out which one is from Him and which is from me? I think so but the Right Foot thinks not. Then it's off to Wisma Saberkas for the card and wrapping. Having accomplished that its on to Ngiukee, a department store with an elaborate docketing system not unlike, but much less efficient than, the one used at Ball & Welch for about a century. Shopping here is not for Type A personalities: the cash register hangs at least four times for every customer, necessitating the intervention of a supervisor who jolts it into action again by waving her ID tags purposefully at the scanner. The upside is that if you spend more than a certain amount you are entitled to your choice of a range of freebies. We always qualify and are gradually building up a fine collection of Ngiukee 40th Anniversary coffee mugs and innumerable bottles of Sos Cili. You haven't had chilli sauce until you've tried this. I hope I can get them past that super-sleuth beagle at Melbourne Airport.
From our living room window in Queen's Road I can see through gaps between buildings, trams rattling along St. Kilda Road. In Kuching we have a clear view over a picturesque golf course where the players are out from first light until dark, carrying umbrellas against the sun. Not put off by the heat they scurry away fast at the first drop of rain. From our kitchen window at home I can see a Wilson's Car Park, two neon signs - Tattersalls and Zurich, and smartly dressed office workers cutting through Queens Lane on their way to and from work. From my Kuching kitchen I can see jungle stretching to the left, right and up to the horizon, interrupted only by the large, futuristic Stadium Sarawak which seems to have descended from space and come to land lightly without rustling a leaf. It makes me wonder how Colonial Stadium would look in the middle of the Daintree.
We are finishing off our lazy weekend by going to see Harry Potter, maybe calling in afterwards to Ting & Ting where the stocks of Wolf Blass and double-coat tim tams have recently been replenished.
We're having a quiet weekend while I recover from a cold - a sort of mid-term break. We went shopping for gifts for Grumpy Girl's impending birthday. There's no Alice Euphemia, Eg et al or Fat 52 around here so it was off to Jalan Bazaar for the local version of cutting edge quirkiness. Will she be able to work out what these presents are? Maybe not. Will she be able to work out which one is from Him and which is from me? I think so but the Right Foot thinks not. Then it's off to Wisma Saberkas for the card and wrapping. Having accomplished that its on to Ngiukee, a department store with an elaborate docketing system not unlike, but much less efficient than, the one used at Ball & Welch for about a century. Shopping here is not for Type A personalities: the cash register hangs at least four times for every customer, necessitating the intervention of a supervisor who jolts it into action again by waving her ID tags purposefully at the scanner. The upside is that if you spend more than a certain amount you are entitled to your choice of a range of freebies. We always qualify and are gradually building up a fine collection of Ngiukee 40th Anniversary coffee mugs and innumerable bottles of Sos Cili. You haven't had chilli sauce until you've tried this. I hope I can get them past that super-sleuth beagle at Melbourne Airport.
From our living room window in Queen's Road I can see through gaps between buildings, trams rattling along St. Kilda Road. In Kuching we have a clear view over a picturesque golf course where the players are out from first light until dark, carrying umbrellas against the sun. Not put off by the heat they scurry away fast at the first drop of rain. From our kitchen window at home I can see a Wilson's Car Park, two neon signs - Tattersalls and Zurich, and smartly dressed office workers cutting through Queens Lane on their way to and from work. From my Kuching kitchen I can see jungle stretching to the left, right and up to the horizon, interrupted only by the large, futuristic Stadium Sarawak which seems to have descended from space and come to land lightly without rustling a leaf. It makes me wonder how Colonial Stadium would look in the middle of the Daintree.
We are finishing off our lazy weekend by going to see Harry Potter, maybe calling in afterwards to Ting & Ting where the stocks of Wolf Blass and double-coat tim tams have recently been replenished.
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